The Girl in the Jitterbug Dress

by Tam Francis

Overview

~ The past doesn't always stay in the past. Sometimes it comes to life on the dance floor ~

Enter a world of nostalgic fashion, classic cocktails, and dance halls. 18-year-old June finds herself face to face with one of her deepest desires. Dance. She embarks on a coming-of-age path of discovery. The vintage skirt wrapping around her warm thighs on the crowded dance floor belies her 20th Century ideas. She's moved to distraction by a dance partner expertly shifting his leg between hers, delicately pushing her into intricately guided steps.

When an accomplished dancer is injured before the international jitterbug contest, June is tapped to take her place. June struggles to overcome her fears, win the contest, and not fall in love with her—otherwise engaged—dance partner.

Fifty years earlier, WW2 era, another 18-year-old jitterbug, Violet, leads the life June and her friends emulate. But Violet's life begins to unravel when she and her sailor beau find her grifting father passed out on her doorstep, blood oozing from his head.

They race against his deployment to tie the knot before the war can tear them apart. When his letters mysteriously stop arriving, Violet is forced to make the decision of a lifetime alone.

Half a century later, while practicing for the contest, June finds an antique dress which may lead her to the one person she's been looking for, her biological grandmother, and the key to unlocking a fifty year-old mystery.

THE GIRL IN THE JITTERBUG DRESS is the parallel story of two young women struggling with love, loss, and redemption, united across generations by a 1940's swing dress.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940162363859
Publisher:	Tam Francis
Publication date:	02/19/2021
Series:	Jitterbug Dress Series , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Tam Francis writes cross-genre fiction with a pen in one hand and a vintage cocktail in the other. She has taught swing dancing for fifteen years with her husband and is an avid collector of vintage sewing patterns, retro clothing, and antiques. All of which make appearances in her stories.

She has been published in Texas Writer’s Journal, The Lucid Stone, Coffeelicious, Quora, and other print and electronic publications. She is a PRO member of Romance Writers of America. Her skills have garnered speaking engagements at The International Society for Women Educators (DKG) and Concordia College in Austin, where she spoke about writing genre fiction, creating your own niche, and blogging.

She lives in a 1908 home in Lockhart, Texas that may or may not be haunted. For book reviews, vintage lifestyle tips, recipes, interviews, give-aways, fun, and games, visit her at www.girlinthejitterbugdress.com

Editorial Reviews

This enchanting story teases at possible connections through time. It hits the ground running with so much character, romance, and emotion that the parallel stories are a delicious bonus. Told with skill, humor, and beauty. The emotions are both raw and lovely, and the descriptions are so breathtaking you can see the dance halls and malt shops and feel the dance. I found myself completely involved with the characters and their stories and it left me begging for more at the end.

Swing Dance Events Coordinator - Lynnda Sheperd

Tam Francis made it easy for the me to envision everything from dance halls, vintage clothing and the raw emotions. Because of the way she wrote about the character's experience while dancing.it made me take up swing dancing. Full of emotions, it takes you for quite a ride. Violet and Chas' love story will pull you in, make your heart ache, and have you beg for more. She's done her research from slangs, clothing, songs, sewing, cocktails and the US Navy.

Author of Hold On - Meghan Redmile

I've been on the lookout for swing dancing in a novel. I loved both the 1940s and 1990s storylines and enjoyed seeing how they fit together. I related to June and her excitement at discovering the swing dance subculture in the USA, it was very similar to many of my experiences in Australia in the 2000s. I loved Violet's story and the insight into life in the 40s. Both storylines felt realistic and were emotionally engaging (I giggled and maybe cried, just a bit)I can't wait to read book 2.

Author of It Don't Mean a Thing - Renee Renee Conoulty

I love-love-loved this book! The two story lines run parallel to one another--1940s and 1990s--highlighting the similarities and differences in the two eras when it comes to relationships and swing dancing.Then, when the two story lines meet, the book becomes impossible to put down.

Goodreads - Patricia Page

Loved this book ❤
I wish this could be made into a movie, the writing just made me imagine the dress and the dancing would absolutely love to see this come to life. I have read it 2 times,

Amazon reader - J M